The present invention relates to a spare wheel carrier mounted to the underside of a vehicle. More particularly, the invention relates to such a spare wheel carrier which is capable of delivering a spare wheel at least partially out from underneath the vehicle.
Previously, devices for holding a spare wheel underneath a vehicle have been known. In one common form of device, a horizontally carried spare wheel is simply lowered directly to the ground. An individual then must crawl or otherwise reach completely underneath the vehicle to retrieve the spare tire. This is a difficult task because of the cramped space under a vehicle. Also, this difficulty is compounded by the heavy weight of spare wheels and because it is hard to grasp and obtain leverage on a spare wheel underneath the vehicle. In addition, it is extremely easy for individuals to soil their clothes when forced to retrieve a spare tire in this manner. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,539,152 of Paul; 3,856,167 of Yasue et al.; and 3,865,264 of Kuhns are exemplary of such devices.
Another known spare wheel mounting device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,797 of Yasue et al. This device includes a spare wheel holder mounted at one end to a frame portion of the vehicle for pivoting about vertical and horizontal axes. A spare wheel is carried upon this wheel holder. The other end of the wheel holder, and hence the supported spare wheel, is raised and lowered about the horizontal axis by a crank actuated cable winch. When lowered, the holder may be pivoted about the vertical axis to position the tire partially out from underneath the vehicle. With this device, an individual still must apparently reach beneath the vehicle to grab and rotate the wheel holder to move the wheel out from under the vehicle. Also, with this device, the wheel inclines as it is lowered. This makes the device more difficult to use under limited clearance conditions, such as when the vehicle is operated on a road which is heavily rutted road and which has a high center.
Still another prior art spare wheel holder is disclosed in German Patent No. 2,725,611. In this device, a spare wheel is mounted to the underside of a U-shaped rack. The rack has rollers at the end of its legs which are disposed in a channel which in turn is mounted to the underside of the vehicle. A crank operated piston shifts the rack, and hence the spare wheel, axially along the channel until one of the rollers is positioned within a gap in the channel. Thereupon, the rack pivots downwardly about the other roller as the spare wheel is lowered to the ground. The spare wheel tilts toward an upright, vertically oriented position as it is lowered. Because of this orientation of the spare wheel, this device would be difficult to use under low clearance conditions.
A further prior art spare wheel holder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,047,629 of Kline. In Kline, a spare wheel supporting bar is pivoted at one end for movement about vertical and horizontal axes. A winch and cable mechanism is utilized to lower the free end of the bar so that the spare wheel and bar may be lowered and pivoted out from underneath the vehicle. A similar device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,709 of Eller. In Eller, a spare wheel supporting arm is pivoted to a vertical rod which in turn is shiftable vertically to raise and lower the spare wheel. A crank is utilized for this purpose. When a tension member is released, the rod may be lowered and the spare wheel swung out from underneath the vehicle. A still further device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,258 of Cruson. In Cruson, a spare wheel is supported by a rack which in turn is suspended by a parallelogram structure from the underside of a vehicle frame. A link extends from the parallelogram structure to a threaded block mounted on a jack screw. When the screw is rotated in one direction, the tire is lowered and extended by the parallelogram structure partially out from underneath the vehicle.
The Eller, Kline, and Cruson devices are each somewhat mechanically complex and bulky. In addition, because of the number of components involved in these devices, it is believed that they would be relatively costly to manufacture.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved spare wheel carrier for the underside of a vehicle which is compact, relatively mechanically simple, easy to use even under limited clearance conditions, and which offers other advantages.